New Orleans Saints a potential landing spot for Robert Griffin III

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Originally Posted by burningmetal
The NFL was starting to put more and more Mobile QB's in the league, but that's actually dying away now. It's quickly being discovered that those guys don't last. I said it back when Michael Vick ...

Re: New Orleans Saints a potential landing spot for Robert Griffin III

Originally Posted by burningmetal

The NFL was starting to put more and more Mobile QB's in the league, but that's actually dying away now. It's quickly being discovered that those guys don't last. I said it back when Michael Vick was all the rage, in Atlanta. It wasn't just about the amount of hits he'd take, it was that he was nothing but a gimmick. He had a strong arm but wasn't that accurate. I always thought the league would catch up to him, and it did.

He had a brief renaissance with the Eagles but quickly came tumbling back to earth. YET, he's maybe had the best career of all the mobile QB's. The rest of them have a year or two, and then just fizzle out.

Vince Young, Colin Kaepernick, Manziel (has yet to do anything), Robert Griffin. Russel Wilson has won more than any of them, and has showed the most sustained success, albeit over a relatively short period of time. He's not put up great numbers, though. He's always been a game manager up until this little run he's been on in the last few weeks.

I like for a QB to have athleticism, in certain instances, but the running QB just really doesn't belong in this league. You need to be able to read defense and throw accurately. Teams can't pay the kind of money QB's command today for a guy to run around and take a bunch of hits.

Griffin was the one guy who I thought had the accuracy to make it, actually. But he just lost it upstairs. Who knows why.

Cam Newton, Tyrod Taylor, Russell Wilson, and Teddy Bridgewater are all having great years respectively. Two of them are top 5 QB'a this year. Collin Kaepernick should have never been benched. Johnny Manziel shows flashes of genius. Vince Young deserved to still be in the league, as a back up at the least. Marcus Mariota and James Winston are going to be great for years to come. Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers are both mobile. DeShaun Watson from Clemson will be a top QB in the draft. The mobile QB is actually more popular then ever, especially with coaches who are patient enough to build their offense around that player and let the playbook grow as they do. If Wilson was merely a game manager his first few years, then so was Brees and Brady. He outplayed both of them at this point of their careers. Ben Roethlisberger too. They just historically don't have the patience with these mobile QB's. More specifically the Black QB's, but that seems to be slowly changing.

Re: New Orleans Saints a potential landing spot for Robert Griffin III

Originally Posted by rezburna

Cam Newton, Tyrod Taylor, Russell Wilson, and Teddy Bridgewater are all having great years respectively. Two of them are top 5 QB'a this year. Collin Kaepernick should have never been benched. Johnny Manziel shows flashes of genius. Vince Young deserved to still be in the league, as a back up at the least. Marcus Mariota and James Winston are going to be great for years to come. Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers are both mobile. DeShaun Watson from Clemson will be a top QB in the draft. The mobile QB is actually more popular then ever, especially with coaches who are patient enough to build their offense around that player and let the playbook grow as they do. If Wilson was merely a game manager his first few years, then so was Brees and Brady. He outplayed both of them at this point of their careers. Ben Roethlisberger too. They just historically don't have the patience with these mobile QB's. More specifically the Black QB's, but that seems to be slowly changing.

I knew I was forgetting someone, thanks for reminding me. Ol' Cam Newton. He's another who relies a ton on his legs and isn't exactly polished as a passer. His career has gotten off to a very similar start to Vick's. Teams are over committing on his running ability and making it too easy in the passing game. They get offense from the big chunk plays, as opposed to methodically moving it down the field.

It's only a matter of time before Cam starts trending down with the rest of them, unless he actually changes his game. Mcnabb came into the league as a runner, but became a pocket passer and extended his career. He wasn't great, but he was able to sustain himself.

The other guys you mentioned are not runners, my friend. There's a huge difference between being able to run when you have to, and being an actual dual threat QB. Rodgers, Luck, Steve Young, Fran Tarkenton.... All athletic guys who can/could extend plays with their feet, but not guys who are/were just looking to run it all the time.

That's why I said I like athleticism in QB's, but not actual dual threat guys. Not in the NFL, anyway. Bridgewater is not a great runner, never has been. He really doesn't belong in the dual threat conversation. But as long as we're talking about him, I think calling his season "great" is a huge reach. He's had a pretty wildly inconsistent year. Before you think that his team being 9-5 has much to do with him, I'll remind you that they made the playoffs with Christian Ponder, once. I think Teddy has potential, but he's got a long way to go.

As for Wilson, I already mentioned him. He's on a good run, right now. He was not so good in the first half of the season, and has always been a game manager. But I'll give him his due for accepting that role and not screwing things up (most of the time).

Marcus Mariota has done nothing but lose so far. Winston, again, not a dual threat QB, bro. Just because he's black and runs every now and then, does not make him a running QB. And you don't think Kaepernick should have been benched? WOW... Now you're just closing your eyes and hoping I won't read.

This last crop of "dual threat" guys that have been struggling have clearly began to sway the movement back toward pocket passers. If you look at prospect boards and see who's getting all the attention, it's a bunch of tall, slow guys with rocket arms. There's going to be a guy who lights the world on fire with his legs every now and then who teams will still take a chance on. And those are the kind of teams that keep losing.